21 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



two vertical, and the transverse sections, and the lacunge of the Stones- 

 field fossil ; with the sections of the heron and Pterodactyle bones 

 for comparison. Of these figures, 13, 14, 15, 18 are magnified 300 

 diameters; the remainder 75 diameters. 



(To he continued.) 



COEEESPONDENCE. 



Human Remains and Flint Hatchets. 



Sir, — Some weeks ago, in passing hurriedly through Normandy, I 

 visited the museum of the ancient town of Bayeux, and was surprised to 

 see in the same glass-case several flint-hatchets, etc., and various human 

 bones. I anxiously made inquiry of the ancient librarian in the room, 

 who, with sparkling eyes, gave ready utterance to his satisfaction at my 

 notice of the contents of the case, and entered fully into a relation of their 

 discovery ; of which the following is the substance of a lengthy communi- 

 cation to the editor of ' L'Echo Bayeusain ' of the 24th July, 1863, by Ed. 

 Lambert St. -A. Duvant. I am unaware whether this paper is known to 

 the British geologists ; if it be not known, perhaps you will publish this 

 communication, and draw attention to this locality ; for it appears to me 

 that this discovery, if fully verified, supplies the desideratum alluded to 

 by Sir Charles Lyell in the following passage : — It is naturally a matter 

 of no small surprise, that after we have collected many hundred flint-im- 

 plements (including knives, many thousands), not a single iiuman bone has 

 yet been met with in the alluvial sand and gravel in any of the parts of 

 Europe where the tool-bearing drift of the Post-Pliocene period has been 

 investigated in valley deposits." (Lyell, ' Antiquity of Man,' p. 144.) 



Augustin Gilbert, a labourer, was occupied in excavating earth for the 

 repair of a road (in the month of March, 1863), near the hamlet of Pont- 

 Eoch, on a portion of the territory of " D'Andrieu, called Les Perrelles," 

 close to the banks of the river Seulle ; and at the depth of 1 foot 10 inches 

 below the surface, he discovered the remains of a human skeleton, near 

 which was found a deer horn, lying by the upper part of the femur, and 

 higher up, towards the skull, two flint-hatchets close together ; a tusk of 

 an old boar, measuring 5^ inches in circumference, and a portion of a flint 

 knife, of which only 3|- inches remain of the blade, which- is slightly curved 

 at its upper extremity, is still very sharp on both sides ; one face is flat, 

 the other has two longitudinal grooves. The flint-hatchets are coated with 

 an opaque substance ; they are of different dimensions, quite polished, and 

 worked with remarkable skill ; the strongest is 6 inches by a width of 2f 

 inches on the cutting edge, diminishing to 1^ inch at the other end. The 

 smallest, 4f inches long, with \\ inch on the cutting edge, reducing to 

 f of an inch at the other end. The knife is of the same class, as regards 

 the working of the material. The human remains are in a good state of 

 preservation ; one part of the maxillary bone contained seven perfectly 

 sound teeth. The body was lying with its head towards the rising and the 

 feet to the setting sun. 



I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 



Patrick Eraser, M.D. 



63, Grosvenor Street, Grosvenor Square, 

 December 12///, 18G3. 



